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The NHL Players' Association isn't prepared to wave the white flag and surrender.

As a result, the lockout will go on into Day 90 Friday.

A league official and representatives of the union met with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for a second straight session Thursday in Iselin, N.J. Neither would back off their stated positions, so the stalemate continues.

Federal mediators were brought back into the process for a second time Wednesday and learned the hard way nothing is going to get the NHL to budge off its last offer. Now it's up to the NHLPA to see what it can stomach.

NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr told reporters in New Jersey the two sides will either speak by phone or in person Friday. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told QMI Agency the two sides have to figure out what's next.

"We will assess where we are and go from here," wrote Daly in an email.

After the two sides appeared -- on paper -- to be close to a deal a week ago, the union asked for mediators to meet with both sides. Those talks continued until late Thursday afternoon with no resolution.

Not that there were any expectations going into it.

"Last week was a real rolllercoaster ride," Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Adrian Aucoin said in an email to QMI Agency Thursday. "But, the one thing I've unfortunately learned is to never get my hopes up.

"Although we've made huge moves in the owners' direction, just as we did in 2004, it seems to never be enough. So, I'm obviously frustrated. Everybody is."

The question facing the players, and one they need to ask executive director Donald Fehr in the coming days, is fairly simple: How much better is the deal from the league going to get if they're willing to hang on longer?

"That's what I asked of (Fehr's predecessor Bob) Goodenow," former Buffalo Sabres' winger Matthew Barnaby tweeted to me late Wednesday.

"I remember being at my house with a bunch of guys and calling Goodenow asking 'Do you think the deal will get better?' (The answer): 'I don't know'."

Nobody knows, but it doesn't sound like it will improve. Yes, that can change.

You could argue Fehr's strategy of saying "no" to a lot of what the league has tabled in the last six months has worked like a charm. The owners have improved their offer, however, the NHL appears to be at a breaking point.

"It's only going to get worse from here for the players," insisted a league source.

Almost certainly the extra $89 million the owners put into the "make whole" pot last week is gone and whether the original $211 million is there remains a question mark. That offer in October was made with an 82-game season in mind.

The players, who are taking a $9 million hit in salaries per day, will miss their fifth paycheque Saturday. There is a sense that sooner or later the voice of the moderates in the union are going to push Fehr to make a deal.

Fehr is preaching to a group of players who felt they went to great lengths last week to get a deal done and feel they've given up enough that the NHL should come to them to get a collective bargaining agreement in place.

The league believes support for Fehr is fragile and is going to be put to the test if there isn't a resolution soon. Many league officials would like to see the union put its last offer to a vote because they believe it would be accepted.

"I think, at some point, players demand a vote and it passes," predicted Barnaby on Twitter. "League goes right over Fehr to get deal they want."

The players know the year is at risk here but they remain defiant and maintain they're unified.

"I'm absolutely concerned about the season being cancelled," admitted Aucoin.

NHLPA not about to wave white flag in lockout talks

The NHL Players' Association isn't prepared to wave the white flag and surrender.

As a result, the lockout will go on into Day 90 Friday.

A league official and representatives of the union met with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for a second straight session Thursday in Iselin, N.J. Neither would back off their stated positions, so the stalemate continues.